Pop Culture -- SIS Style

Welcome to Café Chaos. Grab a cup of coffee or tea (we prefer coffee) and join us for a chat. Every Saturday we celebrate Pop Culture. Movies, TV, books, music, games, trends in style... you get picture. Feel free to comment on our picks or to throw in a few of your own. We’re listening!


SIS Beth Says...
Taylor's post yesterday got me thinking about Thanksgiving, a truly wonderful holiday that I've lost touch with. I've decided to warm up to the special day by watching a few old holiday favorites. A gem of a movie came to mind. I haven't seen it in a long time. I aim on rectifying that. If you've never seen it, run to your nearest rental store! Funny and touching, it was directed by Jodie Foster and stars Holly Hunter, Robert Downing Jr. and a slew of other great actors.

From IMDB: After losing her job, making out with her soon to be ex-boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson has to face spending the holiday with her family. She wonders if she can survive their crazy antics.

My MOVIE Pick of the Week: Home for the Holidays (1995)


SIS BJ Says...
The Mabinogion translated by Lady Charlotte Guest from 1838 to 1849 is a book of Celtic tales from Wales. In it is the story of Taliesin the great poet or bard. It is about a mother, Caridwen, who wishes to brew a potion of Inspiration for her ugly son Morvran ab Tegid so he will be accepted into the world. Caridwen had to brew the potion for a year and a day so she made the young Gwion Bach stir the potion. On the last day three drops of the potion flew out of the cauldron and fell on Gwion's finger. He put the finger in his mouth and he became imbued with Inspiration. Caridwen became very angry because the potion no longer worked for her son. Caridwen gave chase to Gwion, both shapeshifting into many forms until Caridwen ate Gwion, thus becoming pregnant. She gave birth to him and Taliesin was born. He became a great poet able to cast spells and tell the future through poetry. You can read the rest of the tale at INTERNET SACRED TEXT ARCHIVE.

My BOOK Pick of the Week: Taliesin from The Mabinogion

SIS Barb says:

Hooray! I finally got a chance to sit down and watch a movie the other night. It's one that's been sitting in my DVR for the last 2 months. Worth the wait? Absolutely! This movie is based on a very true story which makes it all the more disturbing. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie, Changeling is a must see.

from imdb: Los Angeles, 1928. A single mother returns from work to find her nine-year-old son gone. She calls the LAPD to initiate a search. Five months later, a boy is found in Illinois who fits the description; he says he's her son. To fanfare and photos, the LAPD reunite mother and son, but she insists he's not her boy. The cops dismiss her as either a liar or hysterical. When she joins a minister in his public criticism of the police, they in turn use government power to silence and intimidate her. Meanwhile, a cop goes to a dilapidated ranch to find a Canadian lad who's without legal status; the youth tells a grisly tale. There's redress for murder; is there redress for abuse of power?

My Moive Pick of the Week: Changeling (2008)